Shock-absorber shackle



. l Y 1,635,s o July 12,1927. F. D ARMSTRONG y 8 snocx ABSORBER sHAcKLE Filed Nov. 21,*1924 lNVENTORI tail;

Patented July 12, 1927.

FREDRICK DONALD ARMSTRONG,

OF WEST KOGABAH, NEAR SYDNEY,'NEW SOUTHI WALES, AUSTRALIA.

SHOCK-ABSORBER SHACKLE. i

Application filed November 21, `1924, Serial No. 751,341, and in Australia December 27, 1923.

Relief spring shackles are already known and in use in which helical springs are interposed in the shackle connections between the c ves of leaf springs7 or cud ol:- a leat spring and fran'ie overlying said spring.

between the shackle the end of a chassisl No claim is therefore made broadly in `respect `of the interposition of springs having low damping characteristics in the leaf suspensionsystein ol a vehicle.

The present` invention is restricted toan improved structural forni of shackle in which an assembly spring relief of two or four helical springs is used with the springs disposed in tension and carried in a shackle frame as hereafter described in detail.- The shackle` 'trame is characterized in that the spring tails are anchored to offset bent ends of thc shackle jaws or to the overhung ends of spacing bolts which are passed through the shackle jaws, whilst the pull ends of the springs are carried on a floating shackle pin which are arranged to in the shackle jaws.

pa one spring and chassis assembly.

fitted with washer-ed slide jaws move slidably in slots A lixed shackle bolt sses through the shackle jaws and through of the connected members ,of th j leaf rl `he shackle construction admits of reversal in the arrangement of its members so that lit may be utilized in the case of suspension shackles or compression shackles and in either case with either two or four springs in each shackle.

Fig. 2 isa perspective view washered shackle jaws;

slides which works in of one of the slots in the Fig. f5 is an elevational view of a ytension type shackle showing also a portion of' the structure in section and the springV tails anchored down to offset bent ends of the shackle jaws through a spreader plate which connects those ends; I

Fig. 4 is a side elevational the method of fitting a tension View showing shackle which fixed shackle bolt 12 which is provided with a greaser cap or equivalent contrivance 18, and is also iitted with spacing washers 14. 15 is a through spacing and suspension bolt at the toot ot' the shackle jaws 10, the spacing thirnble 16gy interposed between the .shackle jaws, and spacing thimbles 1 7 `between the` shackle jaws and the tails'l oi' the' shackle v.springs v19. 2O are `nuts on the ends of the bolt 15. The yheads of the springs 19 are carried on the overhung portions ot' the sliding `shackle bolt 21j. This bolt, like the bolt" 12, is tubular and is also fitted with a greaser or equivalent contrivance 13.k 22 are washer slides which are fitted on the bolt 21; their guide faces 23 are itted to the sides of the slots 11 and their ,lenticular flange (washer) portions 24 overlie the sides of the slots 11 and form bearing faces for the endsv of the leaf eye of a suspension spring 25. 26 are cover washers which set up against the outer cheeksof' the washer slides 224 and embrace the outer sides-ot' the shackle jaws 10. 27

and 28 are nuts betweenwhich the hanger bolt 21 aligning with the through grease hole 31 in each of the washer slides 22. Grease passes from the tubular cavity in the bolt'21 through the holes 30 and 31 to lubrite the slide faces of the shackle jaw slots The shackle is set up appropriately to the width of the spring leaf by adjustment of the length of bolts 12, 15, and 21 by means of the nuts on same. In practice only sufficient freedom for adjustment is provided or'as is found necessary in practice to allow for inexactness and wear on the ends of the shackle eyes and leaf springs of certain width. It is more desirable to interchange the bolts 12, 15 and 21 to adapta shackle to suit another width of leaf spring rather than to close up the nuts on a shackle of excess width to set it for leaf springs of lesser width.

It will be observed that the bolt 12 being loo lll?) fixed and the bolt 21 being slidable relatively to it under tension of the springs 19, .the shackle can function only as a compression Y shackle inthe arrangement indicated in Fig.

l. lvhem'however, it is desired to use the fitting in tension arrangement, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, the lower bolt 55 is the fixed bolt and the upper bolt 21 is slidably carried in the slots 40 in the shackle jaws 10, the slots in this case being disposed near the top of the shackle jaws, and not intermediate the length of the shackle jaws, as shown at 11 in Fig. 1. In the Fig. Barrangement the greaser 13 must be omitted from the end of the fixed shackle bolt. The

s rinor tail rods 41 are in this case secured by nuts 42 said tail rods being passed through-the outbent bottom ends 43 of the the shackle jaws.

shackle jaws 10 and through a spacer' bar 44" set below it .to fix the spacing of the shackle jaws. The spring tail rods 41 are secured by nuts 42,' said tail rods being passed through the outbent bottom ends 4b vof the shackle jaws 10, and through a spacer bar 44 set below it to fix the spacing of In all cases the dimensions of the springs used should be such that they flex easily under normal load and have sufficient working range-which is limited by the slot length-to accommodate the difference in movement of wheels and chassis when the Vehicle is being driven over an average rough road.

In the quadruple spring arrangement which is adaptable to the Fig. l or Fig. 3 types of construction, two springs are used on either side of the shackle instead of one spring only as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. These springs marked in Fig. 5 are respectively hung up at their top ends to yokes 5l which are carried on the bolts 2l, and

their tails are hung up to swingle bars 52 which are held on the bolts 15. A more compact arrangement is offered in the Fig. 5 type of construction than in the Fig. l and Fig. 3 types. The swingle bars may be keyed to the bolts l5, or they may be car ried free on them so that they may oscillate obediently toV differential movement of the springs 50.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. A relief shackle for leaf springs characterized in that the shackle is constituted of a pair of rectangular section slotted bars spaced apart by va. fixed foot member and a fixed shackle bolt and which carry a movable shackle bolt which extends through the slots in the bars, said movable shackle bolt suspended from the shackle foot bolt by helical springs in tension and fitted with washer-ed slide blocks operatively disposed in said slots, said blocks having through holes therethrough from a grease cell in the shackle bolt to the Working faces, said holes adapted for distributing lubricant on said faces in the movement of said iblocks in the shackle bar slots.

2. A relief shackle for leaf springs comprising a pair of slotted bars connected and spaced apart by a fixed foot member and by a fixed shackle bolt, a movable shackle bolt extending through and slidable in slots in said bars, a yoke centered on each end of said movable bolt, a swingle bar centered on each end of said fixed foot member and a pair of suspension springs hung on each side of the shackle on the ends of said yokes and of said swingle bars.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

FREDRICK DONALD ARMSTRONG. 

